Keeping a check on drunken driving

The police have been able to control drunken driving on Chandigarh’s roads to some extent. The consistent drive of putting up nakas to challan drunken drivers and further impounding their vehicles has proved a deterrent. In 2011, the UT police started the process of sending old record of offenders with challans to the court, so that serial offenders could be singled out.

The police have been able to control drunken driving on Chandigarh’s roads to some extent. The consistent drive of putting up nakas to challan drunken drivers and further impounding their vehicles has proved a deterrent. In 2011, the UT police started the process of sending old record of offenders with challans to the court, so that serial offenders could be singled out. The offenders are fined, apart from making them stand in the court for the day. Driving licences of repeat offenders are suspended.

According to the law, anyone found driving with above the permissible limit of alcohol in blood (30mg/100 ml) faces imprisonment of up to six months or a fine of Rs 2,000 or both. Repeat offenders can be fined Rs 3,000 and jailed for up to two years.

Licences of as many as 276 motorists have been suspended in the past five years on this count in Chandigarh. In 2014, so far five people’s licences have been suspended for a month, while last year the number was 40. It was 35 in 2012; and 23 in 2011.